1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for preventing unwanted telephone calls and more particularly pertains to requiring a password of a party making an incoming call.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of telephone screening devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, telephone screening devices heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of precluding unwanted calls are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, the prior art discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,289 to Logsdon et al. a caller ID telephone security device for automatically controlling the application of a power ring signal of an incoming call generated by a telephone company. U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,080 to Nutter et al. discloses a method and apparatus for causing certain predetermined telephone actions to take place when a predetermined code is entered. U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,534 to Gural discloses a subscriber interface which enables the connection of otherwise incompatible telephone device systems to interact on a single telephone line. U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,930 to Hagl and U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,652 to Hashimoto are provided as being of general interest.
In this respect, the apparatus for preventing unwanted telephone calls according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of requiring a password of a party making an incoming call.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved apparatus for preventing unwanted telephone calls which can be used for requiring a password of a party making an incoming call. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.